The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents , which consisted of communists , social democrats , and other dissidents. The Dachau camp system grew to include nearly sub-camps , which were mostly work camps or Arbeitskommandos , and were located throughout southern Germany and Austria. Prisoners lived in constant fear of brutal treatment and terror detention including standing cells , floggings , the so-called tree or pole hanging , and standing at attention for extremely long periods.
In the postwar years, the Dachau facility served to hold SS soldiers awaiting trial. After , it held ethnic Germans who had been expelled from eastern Europe and were awaiting resettlement, and also was used for a time as a United States military base during the occupation. It was finally closed in There are several religious memorials within the Memorial Site, [ 13 ] which is open to the public.
Dachau served as a prototype and model for the other German concentration camps that followed. Almost every community in Germany had members taken away to these camps. Newspapers continually reported "the removal of the enemies of the Reich to concentration camps. The camp's layout and building plans were developed by Commandant Theodor Eicke and were applied to all later camps.
He had a separate, secure camp near the command center, which consisted of living quarters, administration and army camps. Eicke became the chief inspector for all concentration camps, responsible for organizing others according to his model. The Dachau complex included the prisoners' camp which occupied approximately 5 acres, and the much larger area of SS training school including barracks, factories plus other facilities of around 20 acres.
The entrance gate used by prisoners carries the phrase "Arbeit macht frei" lit. This phrase was also used in several other concentration camps such as Theresienstadt , [ 18 ] near Prague , and Auschwitz I. Dachau was the concentration camp that was in operation the longest, from March to April , nearly all twelve years of the Nazi regime.
